At Mike Feinberg Co.'s novelty store in Pittsburgh's Strip District on Monday, owner Marcia Hellman said Roethlisberger merchandise was already starting to slow down before the latest news items. "He was so super hot last year, with barbecue sauce, beef jerky, coffee mugs, it had to slow down," she said.

Hellman said she tends to stick with more generic Steelers' merchandise rather than player-specific items, "because if someone gets traded or hurt, you're stuck with a lot of stuff no one wants."

The few Roethlisberger items she did have, some decals and a few framed photos, have all been marked down; $30 pictures are going for $10.

Her customers all have opinions about Roethlisberger, Hellman added. "I haven't heard anyone yet who has defended him," she said. "Even the men can't believe it, and a lot of them are mad because of what they think he did to the Rooneys, after they took him under their wing."

A Facebook group called "Steelers Fans Sending the Rooneys Our #7 Jerseys" has garnered 407 fans. Its creator, Emily Best, pledges never to wear her Roethlisberger jersey again, and encourages others to return their jerseys to the Steelers' owners. "We need to show the Rooneys that we do not support Roethlisberger, and we want to have a team that better represents us, the people of Pittsburgh," the site says.

Jeanne Rosen, owner of Pittsburgh-based JDR Sales, a manufacturers' representative of logo sports merchandise, said it wasn't just hard to move Roethlisberger merchandise in the wake of the scandal. "It hasn't been hard, it's been impossible," Rosen said.

One of her customers, who orders a lot of jerseys, went so far as to cancel everything Roethlisberger, Rosen said. "People are still Steelers fans, I think, but they may not be Roethlisberger fans anymore."

Rosen said if Roethlisberger has a strong season, that would be the best way for him to begin to repair the damage to his image. "I think people will love him again, but I don't think he'll have the same kind of popularity," she said. "But he's not Teflon. I think at this point, he's learned that."